1. Field of the Invention
Golf clubs; more particularly, a golf putter used for striking and directing a golf ball from a location on the surface of a green towards and into a golf hole.
2. Description of Related Art
In the game of golf, it is commonly known that the play of a golf hole is usually concluded with putting, in which the golf ball is disposed upon a closely cropped grass surface (the green), and the golfer strikes the golf ball with a generally flat-surfaced golf club (a putter) and directs the ball towards (and hopefully into) the golf hole. The act of putting a golf ball in an accurate manner is one of the most challenging strokes in the game. it is commonly accepted, observed, and directly experienced that many golf tournaments (and wagers among friends) are won or lost “on the green.”
An effective stroke of a golf putter requires a high degree of hand-eye coordination, steady hands, arms, shoulders, trunk, and legs, and precise judgment with regard to how fast to move the putter head when striking the ball, in order to advance the ball to the hole, but have it arrive there are a relatively low speed, such that it will fall in if it reaches the hole rather than pop out or “rim out.” There is furthermore a second component with regard to the judgment of the golfer, which is club and stroke alignment. The golfer must properly align the surface of the putter substantially perpendicular to the “line” on the green that he wants the ball to follow. If the green is very level, the line may be directly to the hole; if not, the golfer will choose another line to allow for the slope of the green and the resulting curved trajectory of the path of the ball.
In any case, the golfer chooses a line for his putt. This is often done from a squatting position behind the ball, such that the golfer observes lines of sight along the green, and the various trajectories that the ball might take. Once the golfer chooses his “line,” he then rises to a standing position, and takes a few steps to the side of the ball to assume his putting stroke position. The golfer then looks down at his ball and aligns the face of his putter perpendicular to the line that he chose when squatting a few seconds previously. At this point, he has to rely on his memory, intuition, instinct, or “gut feel”—however one might describe the mental process—to achieve that alignment. He may look back and forth to the hole, or to the target location at a distance along his perceived line, but he no longer has a precise knowledge of his line. Because the putter head, which must be positioned perpendicular to the line, is only about four to six inches wide, it is difficult to judge whether that perpendicularity has been attained as he begins his putting stroke.
This alignment portion of the judgment in executing a putting stroke is thus one of the greatest sources of error in the act of putting. Most current putters are similar with regard to alignment of the putter head prior to the putting stroke, in that they have a line, groove, circle or other indicia located on the putter head to use as an alignment aid. This indicia can obviously be no longer than the thickness of the putter head, and is thus of relatively little help in making an accurate putting stroke. What is needed to address the alignment problem is a golf putter that can assist the golfer in aligning the putter face perpendicular to the line, thereby enabling a more accurate putt that follows the desired trajectory on the green, and into the hole.